Kitchen Hardware Update

Saturday, May 16, 2015

Photo taken at Clark & Barlow in Chicago, IL


The past couple of weeks have been all about hardware!

I never thought I would find myself spending hours upon end researching handles whose sole purpose is access to my food and dishes, but I have become obsessed (I am seeing knobs and pulls in my dreams). This search has really brought to light how easily I can become overwhelmed. 






This project started out with the desire to upgrade a few drawers in my kitchen with cup pulls. However, after installing a new chandelier in my dining area (which deserves it’s own post entirely… coming soon!), I was inspired to switch out all of the nickel hardware in my kitchen to black. Reason being, I wanted to tie in the black metal theme I’ve got going on around the house.

I started with a set back in that I had existing handles on all of my cabinets, I prefer knobs on the cabinets and pulls on the drawers, but I was un-willing to fill holes to make this project happen. So, replacing all of the pulls it was. 

I wanted to find something that was rustic, but modern, but chic (you see now how overwhelming it can be). I had high hopes at the beginning of my search thinking that everyone wanted to open their cabinets with sophisticated, unique handles so the possibilities would be endless but boy, was I wrong ! (I might want to add here that I was also on a budget and already had an imagine in my head of what I wanted thanks to Pinterest so I was not very open-minded.)

Dream Kitchen! (See post here



I started out at the big-box stores like Home Depot and Lowe’s. My hope was to find something in store, purchase my items and breeze home to install but options were limited in-store. After recently signing up for a free Amazon Prime Membership (and being that I am naturally an impatient person) I really didn’t want to wait for shipping at those stores, so my search continued on Amazon. I found a few contenders at great prices but was not satisfied. Sure the price was right and I’d receive them next day but these weren’t just handles anymore. These cabinet pulls were going to change my kitchen (and my life!). So, I googled kitchen stores, hardware stores, speciality knob stores. Pretty soon my head was spinning and instead of sugar plums dancing in my head they were bronze knobs (I know it’s not christmas time but you catch my drift). 

It was at this point that I realized I was over-thinking this project. After all, this started out as a quick update to six drawers and had quickly become a life-changing event (in my head). So, I took a couple days off to give my mind a break (and enjoy some wine in Michigan's wine country) and I came back refreshed. 

Wine Break!


Once I got past my impatience (aka no next day shipping) I started to find tons of great options (I also became quite the hardware connoisseur)!  I am not sure how I missed the awesome resources like ATG Stores and Hafele earlier in my search but they have a great selection of hardware at low prices. Also, if you're in the Chicago area Craft and Barlow has an amazing selection!

In the end, I actually went back to the first cabinet Pulls I liked on Home Depot's website (which proves the theory of 'go with your gut') and ordered these cup pulls from ATG Stores (my new favorite hardware resource!). I splurged a little on these because once I saw this design I thought they matched my other pulls so much better than a rounded cup pull like these from Amazon (which I had actually originally ordered but they never shipped and Amazon ended up canceling my order...very frustrating). Also, I only needed 6 of these so I came out spending around $170 total for the entire project. If you're looking for this type of pull but don't like that price tag Home Depot has a cheaper option (see here) but the length is 2.5" center to center and unfortunately I needed 3" (and didn't want to drill another hole in my cabinets). I probably could have found a cheaper option but I was almost a month into this 'quick update' and was ready to be done (and I figured that since I spend under $4 a pull for the other 17 pulls I deserved this splurge). This update has given my kitchen that rustic charm I was hoping for. I could not be happier with the end result!

Here are some before pics:

















And here are some in-progress/after pics:

























Tell me about your hardware adventures in the comments below!

If you're just starting your search check out these great sites which are all referenced in my post above:
Home Depot
Hafele
Lowes
Clark & Barlow
ATG Stores


Note: I am not in any way sponsored by any of these stores, this is just what I found in my hours of research and I figured I would save you some time!


As always, thank you for visiting {R&R} at home!


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